introducing the Female Filmmakers Forum

One of the roadblocks that female filmmakers face is a lack of mentoring and networking opportunities. Jobs go to the people whom the people with the power to hire know, and since Hollywood is still a boys’ club, this mostly means that men are hiring other men. But there is flat-out, unequivocal sexism, too: women filmmakers who have demonstrated that they can make an entertaining film are not getting the support to make the leap from indie films to studio films the way that their male colleagues are. We constantly see male filmmakers jump from tiny indies to big-budget FX flicks, or male screenwriters with no directing experience being handed the keys to a blockbuster. This doesn’t happen for women.

I may not have the power to greenlight a $200 million action movie with a female director, but I do have this little web soapbox. And I would like to share it with female filmmakers trying to get some exposure for their projects. And so I am introducing the Female Filmmakers Forum.

I hope this will be a place where female filmmakers can inspire others by sharing their ups and downs (it’s always good to know that someone else is facing the same issues you are), where people who love movies (my readers!) will discover new stuff they may not have heard about elsewhere, and — who knows! — where someone with the power to give a female filmmaker a job may find their next hire.

THE RULES

• This is for projects with female directors only. If your project does not have a female director, please do not submit it.

• This is not a venue for promoting a Kickstarter! This is for projects that are finished and available to view now.

• Feature films, shorts, and web series are all eligible for potential inclusion. The project should be completed. (In the case of a web series, at least one episode should be completed.)

• I would like for my readers to be able to see something of the project. Ideally, I would like to be able to embed your entire short, or the first episode of your web series, or the trailer for your feature.

If all this applies to your project, please email me — with the subject “Female Filmmakers Forum” so your email doesn’t get lost in my in-box — and include:

1) A link where your project can be found online, even if it’s just a trailer. (Embeddable video would be best. My readers will want to see what your project is about. And I will be deciding which projects to feature based on these videos, too.)

2) An explanation of the project by the female filmmaker: about 300 to 500 words about what inspired the project, the challenges you faced in producing it, basically whatever is driving you and frustrating you about the project. (For a web series, if it’s still in progress, how many episodes you anticipate producing over what time span.)

3) Info on how people can learn more about your project (a link to your web site? Twitter? Facebook? etc).

4) Permission for me to post your video (hopefully: it’s really going to be best if you have some video to share!) and your text.

NOTE: Just to be perfectly clear, I will not be reviewing these projects! This is solely a space for female filmmakers to share their work.